Day of the Dino
Day of the Dino is the two-part premiere of Power Rangers Dino Thunder. Synopsis Part 1 While on a detention-related field trip with their new science teacher (Dr. Tommy Oliver), three students from Reefside High School (soccer star Conner, rocker star wannabe Kira, and wiz-kid Ethan), stumble upon mystical Dino Gems which give them special powers. This makes them a target for a group of evil creatures known as Tyrannodrones. Can the teen trio work together despite their vast differences? And what connection is there between Dr. Oliver and the T-Drones' master, the dinosauric humanoid known as Mesogog? Part 2 Kira must escape from Mesogog's island base, while being chased by the Tyranodrones and henchmen Elsa & Zeltrax. With help from Dr. Tommy Oliver, Conner & Ethan come to her aid. Their new science teacher reveals his connection to Mesogog and company, and to help combat this evil force, gives the three Dino Morphers to harness the Dino Gems, allowing them to become DinoThunder Power Rangers! When Mesogog releases the three brainwashed-dinosaur Bio Zords to wreak havoc on the city, this new team must take on the forces of evil and find a way to give the Zords a change of heart. Plot Part 1 Power Rangers Dino Thunder begins with an incident which takes place sometime after the events of Wild Force. Dr. Tommy Oliver, a veteran Power Ranger, is alone on an island, being chased by someone who yells, "Find him! Whatever it takes!" He outruns the mysterious creatures and manages to escape the island by jumping into the ocean before it sinks. Tommy watches the island simultaneously go up in flames and sink under the ocean. Fast forward to a year after the events of Ninja Storm. Tommy begins working at Reefside High as a high school paleontology teacher. He meets the new principal, Ms. Randall. As he begins class, he gets some grief from the resident busybody, school reporter Cassidy Cornell. Tommy notices a student is missing. That student is Conner McKnight, soccer star, who is busted for truancy by Principal Randall. Randall also busts musician Kira Ford for performing on school grounds without permission. Finally, she rounds up high tech prankster Ethan James for tampering with the school sprinklers, and brings them all to a week of detention with Tommy. But instead of detention, Tommy takes the kids to the museum and promises to cancel detention if they manage to find anything prehistoric in the nearby woods. Tommy notices that the museum is now run by Dr. Anton Mercer, which seems impossible to him, and he is confronted by a robotic Tyrannosaurus rex. After a car chase, the T. rex is out cold. In the woods, the kids fall into a sinkhole. Unsure of how to get out, the kids explore the caverns. The kids stumble across some kind of high tech underground lair, and take some glowing gems from a stand. As soon as they find their way out, they're attacked by a group of creatures. The kids discover that the gems have given them powers, and defeat the creatures using them. Soon, everyone meets back up in the woods, and pretend as if nothing happened. Back at school, a fed up Kira hands over her gem to the guys, only to be abducted by some more creatures. Conner and Ethan run to Tommy's house for help, only to find a secret entrance to the same lair. Tommy finds the kids snooping and is not pleased. Meanwhile, a dinosaur-like creature prepares to interrogate Kira Naks' Power Rangers-Episode Guide-Dino Thunder-Day of the Day, Part I.. Part 2 Ethan and Conner tell Tommy what happened with Kira and they all leave to find her. Kira finds herself in an island fortress and gets into a tussle with henchwoman Elsa and tries to run away. Unfortunately, cyborg Zeltrax and his crew are not far behind either. While evading them, Kira finds a portal, and it sucks her in. While driving in Tommy's jeep, Tommy calls the creatures "Tyrannodrones", and explains that they are his creation: a few years back, Tommy was working on a way to combine dinosaur DNA with technology. His partner in this endeavor, the rich scientist Dr. Anton Mercer, disappeared soon after and right before Mesogog, the dinosaur-like creature, appeared and attacked their lab and Tommy thought that all of their research was destroyed. Just then, Kira lands right on top of the search party. Tommy and the gang encounter and fight Zeltrax and the Tyrannodrones. The next day, Mesogog orders an attack on the city. Three mechanical dinosaurs begin their rampage through the city streets, following by an aerial strike by Zeltrax. Tommy brings the kids to his lair, and gives them morphers so that they may become Power Rangers and calm the Bio Zords. The Rangers accept their roles as heroes. They head down to the city and morph into the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. When the Tyrannodrones attack, Tommy tells the Rangers to summon their power weapons. Finally, they combine their weapons into the Z-Rex Blaster and hit Zeltrax with a shot. Then they tame the Bio Zords, and combine them into the Thundersaurus Megazord. They destroy Zeltrax's ship with the Tyranno Drill. Mesogog punishes Zeltrax and Elsa for their failure with a psionic brain-blast and warns them as a lesson that he doesn't take defeat lightly. Tommy gives the kids bracelets which can access their morphers and allow them to communicate with each other. He also tells them that their lives will never be the same, but Dr. Oliver knows that a lot has happened, but if they work as a team, no one can beat them Naks' Power Rangers-Episode Guide-Dino Thunder-Day of the Day, Part II. Cast *James Napier as Conner McKnight (Red Dino Thunder Ranger) *Kevin Duhaney as Ethan James (Blue Dino Thunder Ranger) *Emma Lahana as Kira Ford (Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger) *Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver *Latham Gaines as Mesogog *Miriama Smith as Elsa *James Gaylyn as Zeltrax (voice) *Tom Hern as Devin Del Valle *Katrina Devine as Cassidy Cornell *Mathew Parry as Younger Student *Mark Clare as Coach Beckman *Mike Kennedy as Soccer Player Zords *Thundersaurus Megazord Errors *When the Biozords are seen attacking downtown Reefside, it is clearly attacking Tokyo using the Abaranger footage due to Japanese writing seen on buildings and the cars were seen driving on the left side of the road. Notes *This is the first Power Rangers Episode to Premire on Jetix & ABC Family. *None of the Rangers appears morphed in Part I. *The robotic T. rex is eight times life size: it is approximately 65.625 feet long, 21.875 feet high at the hips, weighs roughly 33 tons (about as much as a present-day bull sperm whale; the real T. rex weighed only about 4.125 tons, though this was still as much as a present-day bull Asiatic elephant), and has teeth 2 to 8 inches long above the gum line. It can run 45 miles per hour, and its mouth alone is 4.25 feet long. Also, this dino has three claws and much longer arms where as T. Rex only had two claws on much smaller limbs. *Conner uses the phrases "Have a nice trip. See you next Fall" and "Time to head for the back of the net." The first is a line used in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie by Kimberly, and the second references Conner's love of soccer (or football outside the U.S). *The episode's title is probably a reference to the first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Day of the Dumpster. *Conner says "Dude, the guy's a teacher, not Batman!" and scoffs at the idea that an item in Tommy's study could reveal a hidden cave (which turns out to be true). The Batman's Batentrance with a hidden switch in Bruce Wayne's study was most famously shown in the 1966 series. It is significant that Conner delivered that line; James Napier, who plays Conner, is the great-grandson of Alan Napier, who played Alfred in the 1966 series. **Conner's mention of Batman is the second reference to the character; the first was in "[[Happy Birthday, Zack]." A reference to Superman (who like Batman is from DC Comics) is made later in "Drawn into Danger". *Tommy's address in Reefside, CA is 1992 Valencia Road. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers began pre-production in 1992, in Valencia, California. *At one point Mesogog mentions Lothor, calling him an idiot. The two will later meet in Thunder Storm. *In some scenes, the buildings have Japanese writing on them; this footage came from the Abaranger episode "Abare Dinosaur Big Charge!" *During part 1, Tommy is seen wearing the three Ranger colors he has already assumed: a pair of green pants, a white jacket, and a red shirt, as well as a black undershirt, the color he assumes in this season. *This marks the return of Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) since Forever Red. *This also marks the first time Tommy appears as a series regular since the 2-part episode of "Passing the Torch." *This marks the first appearance of the Thundersaurus Megazord *Cassidy mentions Angel Grove in Part 1. *Tommy promises to cancel detention if Kira, Connor, and Ethan find "anything prehistoric". This could include a snake, gecko, frog, dragonfly, or any "living fossil" creature whose ancestors have remained virtually unchanged since dinosaur times (of course, they would let it go afterwards). *In Part 1 while Conner and Ethan are in the woods talking, Ethan predicts he'll have his own multibillion dollar software business. Ironically in the SPD episode History, the SPD Rangers mention that Ethan has his own company that produces tech that they use. *This is the first episode to feature a male Blue Ranger and a female Yellow Ranger since "The End of the Power Rangers" of Power Rangers Wild Force. * In Part One, Principal Randall mentions Judge Judy, host of one the most successful TV courtroom shows of all time. See Also (fight footage & story) (Megazord fight footage) References Category:Dino Thunder episodes Category:Dino Thunder Category:Episode Category:Season Premieres Category:Multi-Part Episode